The mosque that is built in the hearts of the saints
Is the place of worship for all, for God dwells there
(Jalaluddin Rumi)

The real name of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was Syed Muhammad Usman who was born
in 1177 AD in Marwand, Iran. His father, Syed Ibrahim Kabiruddin, was a virtuous and pious
dervish, and his mother was a high-ranking princess. His ancestors migrated from Iraq and
settled down in Meshed, from where they again migrated to Marwand. During the Medieval
period, Meshed and other cities of that region were renowned centers of learning and
civilization.

Even as a young boy, Shahbaz Qalandar showed strong religious leanings. He learnt the
Holy Quran by heart just at age of seven, and at twenty embraced the Qalandar order of
Sufism. Qalandar is a type of dervish who is generally dressed in
beggars clothes, likes poverty and austerity and has no permanent dwelling. Lal
Shahbaz Qalandar wandered throughout Middle East and came to Sind from Baghdad via
Dasht-i-Makran. In 1263, he arrived in Multan, which at that time was at the height of
glory and splendor. The people of Multan besought him to stay but he continued his journey
southward and eventually settled down in Sehwan, then a famous center of learning and
popular place of worship for Hindus, in the southern part of Sindh, where he lived in the
trunk of a tree on the outskirts of the town. He stayed at Sehwan for six years and during
this period he disseminated the light of Islam, providing guidance to thousands of people.

Sehwan is probably the town with the oldest continuous existence in Sind.It rises on
the top of a conical hill, and nearby lie the ruins of a huge fort believed to have been
founded by Alexander the Great. Some coins of Alexanders time are reported to have
been found here. Sehwan was the capital of a Buddhist ruler who was brother of
Chandragupta II, the third of the Guptan dynasty in the 4th century AD. From the time of
Arab invasion in 712, Sehwan was very important in the history of Sind since it commanded
the route from the Upper to the Lower Indus, through which all invaders from either north
or south had to pass. And possession of the fort was essential to the success of every
campaign.

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is an overwhelmingly popular patron saint cherished and adored
alike by Hindus and Muslims of Sind. He was a great missionary, mystic, scholar,
philologist and poet. Several books in Persian and Arabic on philology and poetry are
attributed to him. He was Lal (red) because of his red attire,
Shahbaz due to his noble and divine spirit that soared like a falcon higher
and higher in the boundless heavens and Qalandar since he belonged to
Qalandria order of Sufism and was saintly, exalted and intoxicated with love for eternal
being of God. The legend goes that the incumbent fakirs in Sewhan sent him a bowl of milk
filled to the brim indicating that there was no room for anything more. But surprisingly,
he returned the bowl with a beautiful flower floating on the top. This legend spread far
and wide by the time of his death in 1274, after living a good span for 97 years.

The shrine around his tomb, built in 1356, gives a dazzling look with its Sindhi kashi
tiles, mirror work and two gold-plated doors - one donated by the late Shah of Iran, the
other by the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The inner sanctum is about 100 yards
square with the silver canopied grave in the middle. On one side of the marble floor is a
row of about 12 inch high folding wooden stands on which are set copies of Quran for
devotees to read. On the other side, beside a bundle of burning agarbattis (joss sticks),
are rows of diyas (small oil lamps) lighted by Hindu devotees. The Hindus regarded him as
the incarnation of Bhartihari, the saintly brother of King Vikramaditya, who is believed
to have worshipped Shiva at the venue where Lal Shahbaz's shrine is situated with all its
grandeur and glory.

Thousands of devotees flock to the tomb while every Thursday their number stands
multiplied. Especially at the time of his Urs (death anniversary) being a
carnival as well a religious festival and celebrated every year on the 18th day of
Shaban, Sehwan springs to life and becomes the focal point of more than half a
million pilgrims from all over Pakistan. On each morning of the three day feast, the
narrow lanes of Sewhan are packed to capacity as thousands and thousands of pilgrims,
fakirs and devotees make their way to the shrine to commune with the saint, offer their
tributes and make a wish. Most of the people present garlands and a green chadar (a cloth
used to cover a tomb) with Quranic inscriptions in silver or gold threads. Humming
of verses, singing and dancing in praise of the saint continues till late at night. A
devotional dance known as dhamal, being a frenzied and ecstatic swirl of the
head and body, is a special ritual that is performed at the rhythmic beat of the dhole (a
big barrel-shaped drum), some of them being of giant size and placed in the courtyard of
the shrine. Bells, gongs, cymbals and horns make a thunderous din, and the dervishes, clad
in long robes, beads, bracelets and colored head-bands whirl faster and faster in a
hypnotic trance, until with a final deafening scream they run wildly through the doors of
the shrine to the courtyard beyond.

Not only the people congregating from all over Pakistan but also the tourists and the
foreigners are enthralled at this fascinating scene and aspire to enjoy it time and again.
Such were the persons who really attained the lofty mystical experience. Through their
transcendence, their relation to God is such that in them the Divine personality seems to
reflect itself and through them is revealed to his followers, and the grace of God is
dispensed to those who invoke God in his name. In Iqbals inspirational poetry we
find so many verses about who is Qalandar and what are the attributes of a Qalandar. A few
instances are as below:

(Neither the power of crowns and kings nor the might of armies equals the force of a
Qalandar)

(I was utterly abashed by this word of the Qalandar: If you bow down before an
alien, you will not only be physical whackled but also be deprived of your mind and soul)

It is interesting to note that even the great philosopher-poet Iqbal assumes that he
himself is not less than a Qalandar. Therefore he proclaims:

(The world is pleased with my traits of a Qalandar otherwise
I know that my verses and my poetry are not so appealing)

In short, Ali Shahbaz Qalandar whose heart was the abode of God dwells in the hearts of
the multitudinous people looks supreme and superior to any emperor with all his
sovereignty, splendor and stateliness.